May 29--A four-star hotel, restaurants, bars and other entertainment space will soon be under construction near the airport after the City Council on Tuesday approved an incentive package for their development.

The council approved leasing airport-owned property to EP Vida LLC for the 140,000-square-foot, 220-room hotel, most likely a Westin property, on the southwest corner of Airway Boulevard and Boeing Drive. The city would also lease 80,000 square feet of land for retail space, which developers said would primarily be restaurants, bars and open space for festivals and other events.

"We believe we can fill that niche (of a four-star hotel) and drive additional occupancy to the nearby market," said Suhas Naik, vice president of

EP Vida and managing partner with Sava Holdings. EP Vida is a merger between Sava Holdings Ltd. and Paragon Project Resources Inc.

Naik said EP Vida hasn't gotten the franchise rights for a Westin hotel, but was primarily pending the city's incentives to obtain the rights. The hotel is not yet named, he added.

Construction could begin in the coming months and be completed in two to three years, officials said.

The $42.5-million hotel will feature full-service amenities in every room, a full-service restaurant and bar, a fitness room and pool and up to 18,000 square feet of meeting space.

The $22 million retail center would include specialty retail shops and national restaurant chains not already in El Paso,

developers said. It would also host music and art festivals and other entertainment, they added.

"We're excited about being able to bring this project to the city and near the airport," said Monica Lombrana, director of aviation with the El Paso International Airport.

The council approved a 40-year lease under a Chapter 380 Economic Development Program Agreement, which gives a variety of incentives and rebates on property taxes, hotel occupancy taxes and sales and mixed beverage taxes for the first 10 years. Property taxes, for example, would be collected based on the current property value of about $4.4 million for the first 10 years.

Mathew McElroy, director of the city's development department, said the value of the entire incentive package is difficult to assess because the hotel and sales taxes aren't known until the hotel and retail center are operational.

However, the incentive package also includes about $10.6 million in savings from rental discounts and abatements of hotel revenues typically shared with the airport.

Cindy Ramirez may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6151.

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